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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27051463">where do broken hearts go?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/yxrtyu/pseuds/yxrtyu'>yxrtyu</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adulthood, Banter, Best Friends, Break Up, Drinking, Drinking to Cope, Friendship, Slice of Life, deep talks with your homies in a crowded bar at midnight, karasuno first years, one or two curse words, talks about relationships and life and what not</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:07:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,857</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27051463</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/yxrtyu/pseuds/yxrtyu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Okay, Yachi, that’s enough for you.”</p><p>She turns to the owner of the voice and sees three tall men and one shorter one. It’s all a blur, but the colors of green, dark blue, blonde, and orange against a warmly lit backdrop are beacons of safety and familiarity and strike her deeply in her heart, bringing a wide smile to her face. </p><p>“My favorite boys in the entire world,” she breathes out with a big watery smile. “Absolute favorite. Love all of you.”</p><p> </p><p>Yachi's heart gets broken and drinks herself stupid.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hinata Shouyou &amp; Kageyama Tobio &amp; Tsukishima Kei &amp; Yachi Hitoka &amp; Yamaguchi Tadashi, Yachi Hitoka &amp; Yamaguchi Tadashi, past: Yachi Hitoka/Yamaguchi Tadashi, side: Kageyama Tobio/Tsukishima Kei</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>140</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>where do broken hearts go?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Just something quick I wanted to get out 'cause I need some Karasuno OT5 friendship.</p><p>Title from Whitney Houston's song.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Yachi feels the burn before the alcohol slides down her throat. When she sloppily slams the shot glass on the bar top, she emits something between a hiss and a whine as tears leak from the corners of her eyes, either from the pain of the alcohol or the pain in her heart. She was too drunk to even discern which one. A bubbly pop song plays overhead, a group of girls harmonizing over electronic beats that creates a feeling of cheesy plastic happiness that she finds herself drunkenly bopping her head to. </p><p>“Okay, Yachi, that’s enough for you.”</p><p>She turns to the owner of the voice and sees three tall men and one shorter one. It’s all a blur, but the colors of green, dark blue, blonde, and orange against a warmly lit backdrop are beacons of safety and familiarity and strike her deeply in her heart, bringing a wide smile to her face. </p><p>“My favorite boys in the entire world,” she breathes out with a big watery smile. “Absolute favorite. Love all of you.”</p><p>Yamaguchi frowns at her and reaches over to take the second shot of whatever liquor she was drinking the entire night away from her. “Time to go home, Yachi.”</p><p>“But I don’t wanna.” She swivels around to spin, the colors streaming past her eyes. It dizzies her, makes her breathless, and in her inebriated state, she finds everything amusing, giggles spilling out uncontrollably. “I’m having fun!”</p><p>“Really? You were having fun drinking by yourself?” Tsukishima points out. She hears a soft ‘oof’ from him, but she doesn’t know who hit him.</p><p>“Yup! Nothing like drinking away your sorrows and forgetting all about…” she stops spinning and breathes out. “Forgetting all about some… some jerk who broke your heart.” She can feel her face crumple, bottom lip shuddering as she tries to hold back her tears, but she musters up her resolve, to show that she is everything daisies and peaches even though deep down inside she wasn’t. She forces a smile on her face as she looks at her boys through glassy eyes. “Super fun.” </p><p>She feels rather than sees the men frown at her, feels their worrying increasing tenfold, and she hates it. She never liked being the center of attention, especially like this. Ignoring all of them, she claps her hands and turns back to the bar to wave the bartender down. “I know, let’s take a shot!” </p><p>Before she could fall off her barstool, a hand grasps hers, and she turns to look at Yamaguchi. When he shakes his head at her, a part of her gets mad at him, mad that he won’t let her spiral out of control and lose her shit, but even in her drunken haze, she’s eternally grateful to him. So she slumps forward and looks downward to avoid his disappointed gaze. Pulling her hand from his, she clasps her two hands together, squeezing on them to take the focus away from the tears pooling at the corners of her eyes.</p><p>“Let me tell you about love, Yacchan,” Hinata says, his voice cutting through the somber tension that was settling all over them.</p><p>”You have no valuable input on this,” Tsukishima snips. “You literally sleep with anyone who breathes.” He pauses. “An addendum to that is they have to play volleyball.” </p><p>“Listen, I’ve got a lot of love to give,” Hinata states with a flourish of his hand punctuated by a waggle of his eyebrows. “And I sleep with anyone I like, even if they like volleyball or not. So I think I have some authority.”</p><p>“You’re literally the last person to talk about relationships, dumbass,” Kageyama argues, perpetual scowl etched even further on his face. “You haven’t been in any stable relationship since…” The scowl turns into his signature concentrated frown. “... well, since ever.”</p><p>“Which brings me to my point, Yacchan, is that people come and go, and the only person who ever truly has your back is you.”</p><p>“As much as I agree with that statement, that had nothing to do with love, Hinata,” Yamaguchi finally chimes in with a frown. “And I agree with Kags: you really have no authority to talk about relationships.”</p><p>“Ugh, relationships are a hassle and two headaches and a half. Having to worry about someone else and coordinate your schedule with theirs? Hear them talk about their day when you’re butt tired? Hard pass.”</p><p>Yacchan sniffs loudly as her bottom lip quivers, prompting all the boys to look at her in various states of worry. “I’m never gonna eat his mom’s cooking ever again. Or help his sister with her hair and boy problems.” Looking up at the boys from her drink, she sniffles again and lets out a quiet sob. “I’m never gonna play with his dog ever again.”</p><p>“Now look what you did.”</p><p>“Like you’re any better, Tsukishima. You and Kageyama may be in a nice, very weird but very sweet relationship, but you’re both dumbasses and made a mess out of things constantly and never got your shit together for YEARS until last year. So shut the fuck up.”</p><p>Yamaguchi snickers and is immediately quieted by identical glares from Kageyama and Tsukishima.</p><p>Yachi stumbles out of her barstool and throws herself against Kageyama, who catches her with a soft grunt. Craning her neck back to look at him, she warbles out, “I’m so happy for the two of you. You have no idea how happy I am. But I’m also really sad because I want to be happy, too.”</p><p>Her wails are thankfully drowned out by the loud music in the crowded bar they’re in, but it’s not enough to keep from the curious stares from nearby patrons. Sheepishly scratching his head, Yamaguchi flashes apologetic smiles to everyone surrounding them. On the other hand, Kageyama, being Kageyama, blushes and awkwardly pats the top of Yachi’s head.</p><p>“I only want someone who will stay forever.”</p><p>She squeezes Kageyama a little bit more, glitter tears falling onto his chest. Her words make him frown as his hand moves from her to swipe at her cheeks, smearing sparkles onto them and onto his thumb. He stops when she pulls back to look up at him.</p><p>“Am I not good enough for that?” </p><p>Tsukishima sighs as he moves closer to the two of them, settling on the stool that she recently just preoccupied. Taking her elbow, he turns her around and makes her face him. “Yachi, you’re always enough. Never doubt that for a second,” Tsukishima consoles with a reassuring squeeze on her elbow, face softer than his usual stoic facade. “Your relationship just didn’t work out. It never had anything to do with your worth.”</p><p>“Why’d he leave me then? I did everything right.” Her small hands shake, and Tsukishima takes a hold of them in his own larger hands. “I supported him in his endeavors, I heard his worries, I made sure to let him know whenever he upset me and the other way around, I knew all of his likes and dislikes… I even spent time learning how to make his favorite dishes!”</p><p>Everyone falls silent save for the little sniffs from Yachi. The bar is still packed, the alcohol continues to flow, and everyone is loud and laughing, a stark contrast to the sad little corner the five of them are in. </p><p>“Well, Yacchan, why did you guys break up then?” Hinata asks curiously as he takes a sip of his own beer. Yachi blinks through her tears as she eyes the drink she was unaware he ordered. </p><p>She fusses, her hands tugging onto Tsukishima’s long slim fingers. “... He said I chose my job over him too much.”</p><p>“Wow, okay,” Hinata huffs as he sets his pint down a little harder on the bar than he should’ve. “As much as I liked the dude, he’s a real tool.”</p><p>The three other men glare at Hinata, which he only rolls his eyes at. </p><p>“I’m being very serious right now. The fact that he can’t find it in himself to support you and the job you love says a lot.” He faces Kageyama and points an accusing finger at him. “You’re lucky because Stingyshima is okay with you pursuing your career with no problems and vice versa. It’s hard to find someone that understands your life goals. Which is why I don’t do serious relationships.”</p><p>Kageyama blushes furiously whereas Tsukishima rolls his eyes. Yachi only shrinks further into herself. Upon seeing this, Kageyama’s hand hesitantly returns to her hair, gently scratching her head in an attempt to soothe while Tsukishima squeezes her hands again. </p><p>“Well, then, to go off on what Shrimpy said, maybe, you just didn’t plan on a future with him, then.”</p><p>Yachi takes Tsukishima’s words and rolls it around in her already racing mind. They slosh around with her other thoughts, like a small boat at sea getting beaten down by waves. She remembers late nights at the office, coming home late to cold dinner left out for her, the distance between them in bed seeping out into everything else in their lives. Smiles that never reached eyes, affection that felt stiff and cold and uncomfortable.</p><p>“The career decisions you made… have you ever taken him into consideration?” Tsukishima asks. </p><p>She opens her mouth, but no answers come out. “What do you mean?”</p><p>“Well…” Tsukishima’s eyes glance up and past her for a quick second before looking back into her own. “Have you ever thought of marrying him?”</p><p>“What?” She blinks at the question. The word, “marriage”, strikes at her, a vicious viper attacking its prey with a quick piercing attack. It catches her off guard, and the word, the idea of having a forever <em>on paper</em>… Before she knows it, she’s doubled over in laughter.</p><p>“Wow, as much as <em> I </em> am repulsed by the idea of marriage, I didn’t think it would actually break Yacchan.” Hinata peers into Yamaguchi’s glass of whiskey (that Yachi also doesn’t know where it came from) and sniffs it. “Which one is this one?”</p><p>Before Yamaguchi can answer, she takes the drink out of his hands and knocks it back. “Hitoka!”</p><p>“Ruh roh,” Hinata lets out as he drinks his beer.</p><p>With a slam of the whiskey glass on the counter, she takes a deep breath, shuts her eyes, and says with great feeling, “The only person I ever wanted to marry was Tadashi!” </p><p>She’s panting, trying to breathe through her nose and out her mouth, but the alcohol has more than settled in her. The song changes to an English rap song that everyone in the bar somehow knows and raps along to, but the four men in front of her are stunned silent, especially Yamaguchi who flushes red from embarrassment. </p><p>“I-I-I’m not saying I want to now, but he was the only one I ever thought of that way.” Opening her eyes, she looks fondly at Yamaguchi, who reciprocates with a shy smile of his own. “Everyone else… It never came across.” She moves out of Kageyama’s space to look upon everyone with a dejected look. “Does that make me… not normal?”</p><p>“Absolutely not!”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Yacchan is fine the way she is!”</p><p>Kageyama only shakes his head. </p><p>“I just… we never talked about it. It never occurred to me… I was just so focused on, on my job and my own dreams that… that-”</p><p>“Yachi, you don’t need to explain yourself,” Tsukishima interrupts. With a fold of his arms and a cross at his ankles, he continues. “Your goals didn’t align. It happens.”</p><p>“Tsukki’s right,” Yamaguchi says, face not as red as before. “If you didn’t think of settling down with him at all, then he wasn’t the one to do it with.” </p><p>Kageyama nods his head in agreement. “Better it happened now than later down the line.”</p><p>“You guys…” The men’s care and support for Yachi overwhelms her to the point of tears. She feels warm inside, both from the alcohol and the fuzzy feelings that her friendship with the men give her. A surge of happiness fills her, suppressing the despair she was feeling from her breakup. She’s still sad, but her friends are here, and she now has a better idea of who she is, which is more than enough for her. With the amount of fine motor control she has left, she jumps and loops her arms around Kageyama’s and Tsukishima’s necks to tug them down to her height without much resistance except for surprised grunts. “You’re the best. Every single one of you.”</p><p>“Yachi, please,” Tsukishima lets out, voice strained. His partner’s face is contorted in discomfort. </p><p>“Of course, Yacchan!” Hinata chirps happily, big stupid grin on his face that hasn’t changed since their high school days. “You’re our best friend. Our ride or die. We’d do anything for you.”</p><p>She perks up at that last bit. “Will you let me get stupidly wasted?”</p><p>“Uh, I don’t know about that.”</p><p>“I just got my heart broken, Hinata-kun,” she says with a pout. She forces tears to come to her eyes. “Please?”</p><p>“Okay, I’m uncomfortable.” He slaps Yamaguchi on the back. “Your turn, Yamaguchi.”</p><p>“Hitoka, as captain of this group-”</p><p>“Since when were you the captain of this group?” Tsukishima snides as he tries to glare at his best friend from his awkward position.</p><p>“-I’d be remiss in letting you turn to destructive behaviors to cope from your breakup.”</p><p>“Shhhhhhhhh.” She leans forward towards Yamaguchi, dragging the two men in her clutches with her. “Let me have this.” Turning towards the bar still with the two men in tow, who do nothing but just let it happen, she tries to get the attention of the bartender. “Let’s get some tequila shots!”</p><p>“Oh, is it gonna be <em> that </em>kind of night?” Hinata looks at his drink and frowns. “I’m dumb full already from this beer.”</p><p>Tsukishima groans. “The last time Hinata took tequila shots, he ended up on my bathroom floor with the door locked.” He looks at Hinata again who only shoots him a grin accompanied by a thumbs up sign. “Actually, no, let’s do shots. I’m okay with leaving him here in a public bathroom.”</p><p>“Are we all just letting Yachi get blasted out of her mind here? Do I have to be the only sane one? Like ALWAYS?” Yamaguchi says to no one in exasperation.</p><p>“Yamayama-kun, let’s do three shots in a row.”</p><p>“Why the hell would I want to do that, dumbass?” Kageyama asks as he maneuvers himself out of Yachi’s armhold. </p><p>“What, are you saying you can’t?”</p><p>Kageyama bristles at the taunt and yells at him to shut up as he moves his way towards him. Tsukishima also gets out of Yachi’s grasp, muttering in annoyance over the group’s resident big idiots that share one brain cell, and follows his partner, either to supervise or to participate. </p><p>“Now look what you did.”</p><p>Yachi comes face to face with a glass of water in front of her held by Yamaguchi, whose face is a cross between stern and teasing. She really does not know how everyone has been able to order something without her knowing, seeing that she can barely get a hold of the elusive bartender. Reluctantly, she accepts the glass from him.</p><p>“I’m a grieving woman, Tadashi.” She takes a big gulp of water then presses the cool glass to her cheek, soothing the heat her face was giving off.</p><p>The comment makes Yamaguchi chuckle as he reaches over to wipe away smudged eyeliner beneath her eyes. She looks at him again, watches as he performs the movement with tender concentration. </p><p>“You’re my favorite, you know,” she blurts out.</p><p>Yamaguchi stops mid movement and gives her a questioning look.</p><p>“My favorite boyfriend,” she explains. She moves the glass to switch to the other cheek, careful not to hit Yamaguchi’s wrist. “Out of everyone I ever dated. I guess it’s because you were my first, and you grew up with me, and you’re still my best friend. And if I were still in love with you, I would marry you.”</p><p>He only laughs as he firmly presses under her eye, her head moving along with the force of his thumb, to wipe off her make-up. When he removes his hand, he gives her a soft smile. “I’m glad I am. And I’m glad you were my first and still my best friend, too.”</p><p>She gives him a stupid drunk grin, very happy to be surrounded by friends who are able to make her forget her troubles, who are able to help her recognize her own faults and her own dreams and pull her out of a rut. “Let’s drink until our livers fail, then?”</p><p>“Nice try, but you’re going to drink this glass of water while we take these shots.”</p><p>Yachi says nothing to that but gives a small pout as she watches Yamaguchi join the other three whose voices add to the lively atmosphere of the bar. Smiling to herself, she takes a sip of the water, not as sad as before, and more than content to be enjoying the company of her friends.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>twitter: @__ieatcereal</p></blockquote></div></div>
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